The following design guidelines are applicable to all commercial buildings in the City:
(a) Windows. All ground floor windows in all buildings shall provide views to allow people to see and be seen for passive security and to encourage pedestrian activity and district viability. The degree of visibility shall be determined by use type. Windows must be constructed of clear or lightly tinted glass. Reflective glass and tinting above twenty percent (20%) is prohibited on ground floors. Higher percentages of reflectivity and tinting is allowed on second floors and above. The percentage of glazing shall be calculated along the façade facing a primary and/or secondary public street between two (2) feet and eight (8) feet above the finished floor. The adequacy and necessity of such visibility shall be part of any design review by the Planning Commission and subject to review and approval by the Zoning Administrator.
(i) Commercial Retail Uses on Ground Floors – Between twenty-five percent (25%) and seventy-five percent (75%) glazing is recommended with less than 20% reflectivity on ground floors.
(ii) Commercial Office and Live/Work on Ground Floors – A minimum of twenty-five percent (25%) glazing with greater degrees of glazing, depending upon the specific interior use is encouraged and less than twenty percent (20%) reflectivity on ground floors.
(iii) Residential Uses on Ground Floors – Between fifteen percent (15%) and thirty-five percent (35%) glazing with less than twenty percent (20%) reflectivity is recommended on ground floors.
(iv) Residential Uses on Upper Floors – Between fifteen percent (15%) and thirty-five percent (35%) glazing recommended on upper floors. Higher levels of reflectivity are permitted on upper floors.
(v) Institutional Uses – Institutional uses are exempt from glazing requirements, but are encouraged to use glazing as part of an overall design scheme along with exterior frontage treatments to create appropriate relationships between the interior spaces and the public realm. Entrances should be focal points of the façade that celebrate this relationship and highlight the transition from the public realm to the interior.
(b) Building Entrances and Siting.
(1) All buildings shall have a public entrance from the sidewalk along the Primary street frontage.
(2) Façades that abut parking areas and contain a public entrance shall make provisions for pedestrian walkways and landscape areas.
(3) If outlot buildings are a part of a large retail development, outlot buildings must define the street frontage by placement near the street with showcase windows and entrances oriented toward the street, as well as to the interior parking lot. Entrances oriented toward the interior parking lot shall make provisions for pedestrian walkways and landscape areas.
(c) Roof Design. Green roof and white roof designs are encouraged.
(d) Parking Structures. Parking structures are encouraged to be “faced” with commercial uses along any façade that is adjacent to a public street. Parking structures are encouraged to include screening measures designed to reduce the visual effect of headlights emanating from the structure onto and/or toward neighboring and/or adjacent properties.
(e) Surface Parking. Surface parking lots shall be screened from sidewalks and streets with some combination of shrubs, hedges, landscaping and decorative fencing and/or walls and shall be of a height to screen pedestrians from headlights on cars and trucks and shall be in compliance with Section 1166.06.
(Ord. 187-2023. Passed 1-16-24.)